Learn French: Ta profession actuelle te plairait moins si tu n'avais pas fait ce choix. - Your current profession would please you less if you had not made this choice.

Ta profession actuelle te plairait moins si tu n'avais pas fait ce choix.

Your current profession would please you less if you had not made this choice.

Breakdown of Ta profession actuelle te plairait moins si tu n'avais pas fait ce choix.

you (informal singular)

avoir

to have

not (used before the verb)

pas

not (used after the verb)

Questions & Answers about Ta profession actuelle te plairait moins si tu n'avais pas fait ce choix.

Why do we use the present conditional (plairait) and the plus-que-parfait (avais fait) together here?

This is a mixed conditional. We are talking about a condition that happened in the past (si tu n'avais pas fait ce choix, meaning if you had not made that choice back then) that has a result happening right now in the present (ta profession te plairait moins, meaning your job would please you less today).

Is actuelle a false friend here?

Yes! Actuel (and its feminine form actuelle) means 'current' or 'present', not 'actual'. If you wanted to say 'actual' in French, you would use a word like réel or véritable.

Why is the verb conjugated as plairait with an -t instead of -s if the pronoun te is right in front of it?

The subject of the verb is Ta profession actuelle (which is a third-person singular 'it' or elle), so the ending is -t. The te is an indirect object pronoun meaning 'to you' (literally: your current profession would be less pleasing to you).

I often confuse when to use faire or prendre for choices and decisions. What is the rule here?

In French, you use faire with choices (faire un choix = to make a choice), which matches the English structure. However, with decisions, you must use prendre (prendre une décision = to make a decision).